Digital Wellbeing

Digital Wellbeing adds ‘Focus Mode’ to disable distracting apps, enhanced Parental Controls

Damien Wilde | May 7 2019 - 1:43 pm PT

We spend way too much time on our devices and while Digital Wellbeing does help, the new ‘Focus Mode’ should help eliminate our most distracting mobile apps to help us stay on track.

At I/O 2019, Google introduced even more enhanced controls to help us get a hold of our digital health, with Focus Mode being a core component in future Android updates.

Digital Wellbeing has not just added new controls for main devices users, Google also announced further parental controls that allow for time limits and more to be set on specific games and apps your children might use too frequently.

Focus Mode allows you to silence specific apps that you find the most distracting or you spend the most time within. The most obvious would be apps like Twitter and Facebook, where most of our time can be lost via inane scrolling and swiping.

Time for a time out? With Focus Mode, you can get things done distraction free by selecting the apps you want to stay active and pausing everything else you don't. #io19 pic.twitter.com/Pq74lnsUU3

— Google (@Google) May 7, 2019

You are able to keep certain applications ‘open’ though, like SMS or the Phone. Although you can achieve something similar via Do Not Disturb controls, this allows for more nuanced control of what is taking up your time.

Since creating our set of Digital Wellbeing tools last year, we’ve heard that they’ve helped you take better control of your phone usage. In fact, app timers helped people stick to their goals over 90 percent of the time, and people who use Wind Down had a 27 percent drop in nightly phone usage.

This year, we’re going even further with new features like Focus mode, which is designed to help you focus without distraction. You can select the apps you find distracting—such as email or the news—and silence them until you come out of Focus mode. And to help children and families find a better balance with technology, we’re making Family Link part of every device that has Digital Wellbeing (starting with Android Q), plus adding top-requested features like bonus time and the ability to set app-specific time limits.

The added Family Link controls allow parents to have a much tighter grasp on how much screen time they allow their children. You can limit the time allotted to certain apps and games, and there is even a way to incentive usage by giving children ‘Bonus time’ in smaller increments.

You’re given the ability to view detailed app time and even set a daily bedtime that prevents applications from being launched unless deemed essential during a preset period. We’re sure that parents will fall in love with these enhanced controls for their own children.